Wallace: benched against a righty one day, hitting third the next

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On Monday, that translated into setting on the bench against a righthanded starting pitcher. On Tuesday, it means making his first career start hitting third.

Wallace, who has a .285/.362/.403 stat line, will hit behind Michael Bourn and Jeff Keppinger and ahead of Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee against Washington Nationals righthander Jordan Zimmarman. The move up the order comes one day after Astros manager Brad Mills sat Wallace against a righthander for the first time this season.

Mills cited the 7-for-10 performance Jason Michaels had against righthander Jason Marquis in sitting Wallace for a 5-2 Nationals victory on Monday. Wallace had started 66 of 66 games against righthanders, against whom he has a .302/.381/.435 line. Wallace has started 12 of 29 games against lefties, who have limited him to a .214/.279/.269 line in 52 at-bats.

Will the new look generate some extra offense for the Astros? Mills is trying out this lineup against fifth in the National League with a 2.66 ERA.